As some of you may know I have introduced my friend, known here as Londo Benlari to B5, and tonight we will complete the last six episodes - the first time he will see the conclusion to the five-year arc.

It will be the fifth or sixth time I have seen it, and it got me thinking about final episodes. 'Sleeping in Light' is (aside from Berserk and Neon Genesis Evangelion, which as anime are both very different from the type of show I'm talking about) the only finale I've ever seen that I feel real does justice to the show as a whole. The finales of The Wire, Deep Space Nine, Rome et al. while good, felt, to me, slightly underwhelming or anti-climactic.

I think that one of B5's huge strengths is that the final episode manages to feel like a climax, despite it taking place years (in the arc) after the fact.

What do others feel about the Sleeping in Light as a 'finale' to B5's arc rather than just an epilogue or final episode?

Other than the continuity glitches necessary due to making the ep at the end of season 4, SiL's a thing of perfect beauty.

And while I can't agree with you on the Wire -- part of the point is that everything kept going just the same -- and have a great deal of love for the Buffy finale, I do agree that SiL is probably the best finale to a show that I've ever seen.

My problem with The Wire finale wasn't the fact that nothing really changed - Cheese's 'here, today' speech is one of the best parts - because, as you say, that is the point. It's just felt underwhelming in some unquantifiable way. I find that the finale of the third season says much the same things as the fifth season's, but with more impact.

But anyway, yes, the continuity errors are a bit jarring, but they're minor, and I'm happy to deal with them because it means we have Ivanova, and her abscence would have been worse.

At the risk of turning this into a "Wire" thread -- wasn't that kind of the point? "Things aren't actually getting any better, folks." But the Baltimore montage was pretty sweet, and seeing Michael with a shotgun was kind of cool.

Right with you on Ivanova. I watched it in episode order (I still haven't seen A Call to Arms or Crusade), and seeing her again was like welcoming back a very old friend. "Hey, it's Ivanova! How have you been?"

It's pure pain for me to watch the last episode - oftentimes I plain skip it since I just cry like a little girl.

Best goddamn finale I've ever seen.

it's so beautiful, susan accepting the position with the rangers, is so similar to delenn's final scene, they both do these things so they can be "near" those they love. i cry every time.

just going back the wire, i don't watch the last episode anymore, dookie shooting up physically hurts me, so once was more than enough.

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There was a saying on Minbar, anyone who wanted to get a straight answer out of Ranger One was to look at every reply in a mirror while hanging upside down from the ceiling.
Marcus Cole

"when ejaculating, it is considered gentlemanly to avoid the eyes"

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

Oh, well I always assumed there was something else happening there, in the 10 year gap. And anyway, I don't think JMS would've made that big of a glitch. He's known what was going to happen in the 10 year gap even before filming season 5, and he wouldn't have made any changes in the tension between Garibaldy and Sheridan during season 5 because he knew he had SIL as the finale...